ATLANTA- Georgia Tech football coach Brent Key spoke to the media on Tuesday just ten days away from the Jackets Birmingham Bowl showdown with Vanderbilt. The Jackets have weathered some portal departures including the recent announcement of edge rusher Romello Height leaving on Monday. Key said he is grateful to have his roster intact enough to play next week.
With Height departed the Jackets have several options including senior edge Kevin Harris who started over Height in the Syracuse game earlier this year and has just under 1,000 career snaps on defense in four seasons at defensive end/outside linebacker. The bigger question is about who will rotate with Harris at that edge spot next week in the bowl game. Redshirt Freshman Jacob Cruz and true freshman Amontrae Bradford have both taken snaps at that position this season in limited action along with true freshman Jordan Boyd who has played both end spots.
Key said he is thankful they have enough players to weather some departures, unlike other bowl-bound programs who are struggling to field a team right now.
"We play a lot of guys on defense and we play a lot of guys in general on that side of the ball," Key said of the edge spot. "We've got guys on the team and one person is not going to make a difference as far as the rotational depth and having bodies to play. You see some of these teams out there in dire straits as far as being able to play a game. That is not the case at all. We are going to continue to coach the guys that are here and prepare them not only for this game but their careers at Georgia Tech."
The Jackets like most teams are using the early part of bowl practice to focus on developmental players who spent most of the fall working on the scout team.
"We are still in developmental practices with our team. That was our fifth practice or sixth, it was probably one of the better bowl practices from the physicality and intensity of it and the communication with both sides of the ball. We did some competitive good-on-good sequences toward the end and some different situational things," Key said. "I'm really proud of our team up to this point and what they've done. It will be a similar day tomorrow and then we will get into game planning and introducing the opponent on Friday. We are a week out trying to keep a normal routine with maybe one extra practice in there."
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